lulu

• IPA^(key): /ˈluːlu/
• Rhymes: -uːlu

Probably from American stage magician Lulu Hurst (1869–1950).^[1]

lulu (plural lulus) (slang, originally US)

1. A remarkable person, object, or idea.

   Synonyms: exception, ace, innovation, champion, comedy, surprise, doozie, humdinger

   • 1951 July 16, J[erome] D[avid] Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →OCLC, page 167:

     The funny part was, though, we were the worst skaters on the whole goddam^[sic] rink. I mean the worst. And there were some lulus, too.

   • 1961, James Edward Grant, Clair Huffaker, The Comancheros‎^[1], spoken by Jake Cutter (John Wayne):

     Mon-sewer, you are a lulu!

   • 2013, Andrew Lycett, Ian Fleming, page 301:

     Seriously, I mean it: From Russia, With Love is a real wowser, a lulu, a dilly and a smasheroo.

   • 2025 October 9, Parul Sehgal, “Thomas Pynchon Saw Where America Was Headed. What Does He See Now?”, in The New York Times Magazine‎^[2], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:

     The job: a real lulu. The heiress to a cheese fortune has run off with a clarinet player in a swing band, and Hicks is dispatched to bring her home.

     (Can we archive this URL?)

2. A very attractive or alluring person.

   Synonyms: babe, beauty, cutie, doll, stunner

   Antonyms: (woman) dog, fright, monster, monstrosity, sight

3. A very bad mistake or error.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:error

From the phrase in lieu.

lulu (plural lulus)

1. (slang) A fixed allowance paid to a legislator in lieu of reimbursement for actual expenses.

• “lulu n.¹ (anyone or anything exceptional)”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present
• “lulu n.² (lavatory)”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present
• “lulu n.³ (gonorrhoea)”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present
• “lulu n.⁴ (moneys disbursed)”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present

lulu

1. nonstandard spelling of lulo

lulu

1. imperative of luli

lulu

1. owl

• IPA^(key): /ly.ly/

• Audio (Canada (Shawinigan)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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• Audio (France (Somain)):

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lulu f (plural lulus)

1. (Quebec) twintail, pigtail; one of a pair of ponytails on the sides of the head

   Synonym: couette

From Proto-Oceanic *ruru (compare with Māori ruru, Tahitian ruru and Tongan ū)^[1] from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *duŋduŋ “sheltered”^[2] – compare with similar verbs across the Austronesian family with a *-duŋ ending like *tuduŋ ( “head cover” – compare with Tagalog turong, Malay tudung) and *linduŋ (compare with Malay lindung “to protect”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈlu.lu/

lulu

1. calm, peace
2. shelter; safe place
3. shield

• lūlū

From French loup.

lulu

1. wolf
2. werewolf

• Baker, Philip; Hookoomsing, Vinesh Y. (1987), Diksiyoner kreol morisyeṅ [Mauritian Creole Dictionary] (in French and English), Paris: L'Harmattan, →ISBN

• IPA^(key): /lū.lū/

lulu

1. cotton
2. cotton plant

   Synonym: cigbàn lulu

Onomatopoeic.

• IPA^(key): /ˈlu.lu/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ulu
• Syllabification: lu‧lu

lulu impf (defective)

1. (intransitive, childish, humorous) to sleep

   Synonym: spać

• lulu in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• lulu in Polish dictionaries at PWN

lulu

1. barn owl

Borrowed from Arabic لُؤْلُؤ (luʔluʔ, “pearls”).^[1]

• Audio (Kenya):

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lulu class IX (plural lulu class X)

1. pearl

lulú

1. bubble; foam